Door closing door checks



Oct. 1, 1963 .J. A. TRUHON 3,105,264-

pboa CLOSING DOOR CHECKS Filed June 20, 1961 v II INVENTOR.

JIM/v4. 7kw/o/v Arr-024467 United States Patent Oifice" Edd-52% PatentedGet. 1, 1963 3,105,264 DOGR (lifiglNG DGGR CHECKS .l'ohn A. Trnhon,16514 Blackstone, Detroit 19, Mich. Filed .iune 20, 1961, Ser. No.118,339 3 Ctainis. (Cl. 16-66) This invention relates to door closingdoor checks for doors, and in particular to improvements in door closingdoor checks for side hinged screen doors, storm doors, and the like.

In the prior art, several screen door and storm door closing door checksembody means for holding side pivoted doors open against the closingaction of the door check, which closing action of the door check isstored therein in a compression spring which is compressed responsive tomanually opening the door. Such door closing door checks usually consistof a cylinder connected at one end to either the door frame or the doorand a spring loaded piston having a piston rod extending from the otherend of the said cylinder pivotally connected to the other of the doorframe or the door. Air enters the cylinder freely as the door is opened,and escapes through a suitable orifice as the door is spring closed,thus checking the rate of speed at which the door is spring closed withan air cushion action.

The prior art hold-open means generally employed in spring loaded doorclosing door checks of the class hereinabove described have proved to beunsatisfactory because of the difficulties involved in making themoperative to hold the door open and the inconvenience of releasing thehold-open means to release the door closing door checks for normaloperation.

With the foregoing in view, it is the primary object of the instantinvention to provide, in a spring loaded cylinder type air cushioneddoor closing door check for side-hinged doors, a readily manually setmeans for bolding the door in any partial or fully open position, whichhold-open means is easily readily and quickly released by the simpleexpedient of further swinging the door slightly toward its fully openposition and then releasing the door for normal closing by the said doorcheck.

A further object of the invention is to accomplish the foregoing in asimple, inexpensive and facile manner which includes incorporating anovel and effective manually set and readily releasable hold-open leverdevice on the piston rod end of an otherwise conventional air cushiontype door closing door check for storm doors, screen doors, and thelike.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent by reference to thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a door closing door check embodying thequick manually set and readily releasable hold-open device of theinvention, the said door check and hold-open device being shown in theirholdcpen position as when a door equipped therewith has been swungpartially or substantially fully open and the hold open device has beenmanually set.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 1, but with the hold-opendevice released and the door closing door check shown in the door-closedposition.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end elevational view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG.2 showing the quick manually set and readily releasable hold-open deviceof the invention in its normal released position.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view taken on the line 44 of FIG.2 also showing the quick manually set and readily released hold-opendevice of the invention in its released position.

FIG. 5 is an inside elevational view of a storm door or screen door sidehinged to a door frame and equipped with a door closing door checkembodying the invention,

the said door being shown in its closed position.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the storm door or screendoor, door frameand door check shown in FIG. 5 with the door swung substantially fullyopen, the door check of the invention having been manually set toreleasably hold the said screen door in its open position.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer tolike and corresponding parts throughout the several views, a doorclosing door check 16 em bodying manually set quick release means 30'illustrating the invention is shown in its door-open position in FIGS. 1and 6, and in its released or door-ciosed position in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and5.

A typical installation of a door closing door check 11 of the inventionis best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 on a storm or screen door 11 side hingedat 12 to a door frame 13 setting on a sill 14 and in a wall 15. Suitablebifurcated brackets 16 and 17 each with vertical hinge pins are employedto pivotally connect the cylinder 21) and the piston rod 22 of thepiston 21 of the door closing door check 10 to the door 11 and the doorframe 13 respectively. FIG. 5 shows the door 11 in its closed positionand FIG. 6 shows the door 11 in its open position where it is releasablyheld by the manually set quick release means 30.

The door closing door check It} is preferably constructed of a cylinder29 and has a piston 21 reciprocatingly mounted therein. The said piston21 has a piston rod 22 fixed at one end thereto with its free endreciprocating mounted through a cylinder head 23 on one end of the saidcylinder 20. The manually engageable quick release means 30 of theinvention is preferably incorporated on the outer end of the saidcylinder head 23. The free end of the said piston rod 22 is preferablyflat-t tened and bored at 22-4 to accommodate the hinge pin of thebifurocated bracket 16. The opposite end of the cylinder 20 is cappedwith a cylinder head 24 preferably incorporating an ear bored at 24% toaccomnodate the hinge pin of the bifurcated bracket 17.

The piston 21 may be of any suitable construction, it being indicated inFIGS. 1 and 2 to be of a well-known flexible neoprene or rubber cupsealed type. Between the piston 21 and the cylinder head 23 and freelydisposed around the piston rod 22 is a compression spring 25 showncompressed in FIG. 1 as when the door 11 is substantially fully opened,and extended in FIG. 2 as when the said door 11 is fully closed.

The cylinder head 24 is provided with a spring loaded ball check valve26 adjustable by an adjusting screw 27 having a longitudinal air passage27% therethrough. Obviously, any type of ball check valve 26 may beemployed which will regulate the amount of air passing out of thecylinder 29 when the piston 21 is urged to the right hand end of thecylinder 20 as viewed in FIG. 2 during the spring closing of the door11, thus regulating the rate of door closing and checking its motion asit approaches its fully closed position. When the door 11 is manuallyopened and the compression spring 25 is being compressed, the flexiblecup type packing 210 of the piston 21 permits air in the spring chamber20% of the cylinder 29 to move freely to the air chamber 2M thereof.

As best shown in FIGS. 1-4 inclusive, the manually set quick releasehold-open means as comprises a holdopen lever latch 31 pivoted to theouter end of the cylinder head 23 on a pivot pin 32 extending through apair of laterally spaced nubs 239 preferably formed integral with andextending outwardly from the outer. end 231 of the said cylinder head23. The said pivot pin 32 is located off-center in respect to the pistonrod 22 which reciprocates through a central aperture 232 pro vided inthe said cylinder head 23. The said hold-open a lever latch 31 ispreferably formed with a pair of laterally spaced ears 31d bent normalthereto which are suitably apertured for pivotally mounting the saidlever latch 31 on pivot pin 32, the said ears 310 being preferablydisposed adjacent to and inwardly of the said spaced nubs 23% extendingoutwardly from the said cylinder head 23.

The short or stop end of the lever latch 31 is preferably bent to form astop 311 which is of the correct length to hold the said lever latch 31parallel to the outer end 231 of the cylinder head 23 when the saidlever latch is rotated about the pivot pin 32 clockwise as viewed inFIG. 2. The long or operating end of the lever latch 31 is provided withan aperture 312 therethrough slightly larger in diameter than thediameter of the piston rod 22 so that the said piston rod 22 is free toreciprocate through the lever latch 31 when it is disposed in anunlatched position parallel to the outer end 231 of the cylinder head23, see FIG. 2. The said long or operating end of the lever latch 31extends a sufficient distance outwardly of the piston rod 22 to providean operating tab A spring loaded plunger 35 is reciprocatingly mountedin a suitable bore 235 in the cylinder head 23 below the lever latch 31inwardly of the operating tab 313 thereof, which spring loaded plungerconstantly urges the lever latch 31 to pivot clockwise as viewed in FIG.1 to its unlatched position shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the lever latch 31 isnormally disposed in its unlatched position shown in FIG. 2. At thispoint, it will be noted that, when the lever latch 31 is spring pivotedto its unlatched position shown in FIG. 2, the piston rod 22 is free toreciprocate through the aperture 312 provided therefor in the said leverlatch 31. It is important that the wall of the lever latch 31 definingthe said aperture 312 therethrough be drilled normal to the surfacethereof with relatively sharp upper and lower circumferential edges sothat when the said lever latch 31 is manually pressed and pivoted to itslocked position shown in FIG. 1 after the door 11 has been manuallypartially or substantially opened, the said lever latch 31 will becomeengaged with the piston rod 22 upon release of the door for closing bythe door closing door check 16 locking the said door check 1d againstmovement tending to close the door 11.

A spring loaded plunger 35 is reciprocatingly mounted in a suitable bore233 in the cylinder head 23 below the lever latch 31 inwardly of theoperating tab 313 thereof, which spring loaded plunger constantly urgesthe lever latch 31 to pivot clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1 to itsunlatched position shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the lever latch 31 is normallydisposed in its unlatched position shown in FIG. 2. At this point, itwill be noted that, when the lever latch 31 is spring pivoted to itsunlatched position shown in FIG. 2, the piston rod 22 is free toreciprocate through the aperture 312 provided therefor in the said leverlatch 31. It is important that the wall of the lever latch 31 definingthe said aperture 312 therethrough be drilled normal to the surfacethereof with relatively sharp upper and lower circumferential edges sothat when the said lever latch 31 is manually pressed and pivoted to itslocked position shown in FIG. 1 after the door 11 has been manuallypartially or substantially opened, the said lever latch 31 will becomeengaged with the piston rod 22 upon release of the door for closing bythe door closing door check lit locking the said door check 14} againstmovement tending to close the door 11.

Accordingly, the door 11 may be releasably held in a partially open orsubstantially fully open position by the manually set quick releasehcld-open means 30 by the simple expedient of pressing the operating tab313 of the hold-open lever latch 31 and releasing the door for closingby the door closing door check it? while maintaining pressure on thesaid pressure tab 313. The hold-open means so immediately makes the doorclosing door check inoperative until the hold-open lever latch 31 is redleased by manually pushing the door d1 ever-so-slightly toward its fullyopen position.

The improved manually set quick release hold-open means 3%? for doorchecks it} is very simple, extremely convenient, and may be applied tovarious types of door closing door checks it) at a minimum of cost,thereby providing a desirable and trouble-free means for readily holdinga swinging door in any partial or substantially fully open position, andsubsequently releasing it for closing by the simple medium of pushingthe door slightly further open.

Although but a single embodiment of the invention has been disclosed anddescribed herein, it is obvious that many changes may be made in thesize, shape, arrangement and detail of the several elements thereof, allwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a door check of the type including a cylinder having a head ateach end thereof, a piston reciprocable in said cylinder having a pistonrod extending through one cylinder head, spring means in said cylinderconstantly urging said piston'toward the other cylinder head, the saidcylinder and piston rod being connectable to the door frame and door ina manner to cause said piston to move in one direction and compress saidspring responsive to manually opening the said door, said spring causingsaid piston to move in the opposite direction after said door has beenopened to close the same, said cylinder having a bleed in the other ofsaid heads adapted to regulate the rate of spring closing of said door,a manually set and readily releasable door hold-open means comprising ahold-open lever latch disposed diametrically across and in spacedrelationship to the end of said one cylinder head having an aperturetherethrough slightly larger than said piston rod and telescoped freelythereover, pivot means mounting one end of said lever-latch on said onecylinder head adjacent one side said piston rod and extending outwardlyfrom the other side thereof, stop means on said lever-latch located tocontact said cylinder head causing said lever-latch to be disposednormal to said piston rod when pivoted in one direction about said pivotmeans, spring means constantly urging said lever-latch to pivot to itssaid normal position wherein said piston rod may reciprocate freelytherethrough, said lever-latch pivoting into contact wth said piston rodresponsive to manual pressure applied to the outwardly extending endthereof after said door is manually opened holding said piston rodagainst axial movement to close said door upon release of the manualforce employed to open said door, said lever-latch being released bysaid last mentioned spring means to its normal position uponsubsequently manually opening said door slightly from the open positionto which it is held by said hold-open leverlatch.

2. In a door check of the type including a cylinder having a head ateach end thereof, a piston reciproca-ble in said cylinder having apiston rod extending through one cylinder head, spring means in saidcylinder head constantly urging said piston toward the other cylinderhead, the said cylinder and piston rod being connectable to the doorframe and door in a manner to cause said piston to move in one directionand compress said spring responsive to manually opening the said door,said spring causing said piston to move in the opposite direction aftersaid door has been open to close the same, said cylinder having a bleedin the other of said heads adapted to regulate the rate of springclosing of said door, a manually set and readily releasable doorhold-open means comprising a hold-open lever-latch pivotally mounted onthe outer end of said one cylinder head off-center with respect to thepiston rod extending therethrough and extending diametrically acrosssaid cylinder head in spaced relationship thereto, said lever-latchhaving an aperture therethrough slightly larger than said piston rodfreely accommodating the same when said lever-latch is pivoted to itsunlocked position parallel to the end of said one cylinder head,lever-latch stop means limiting the pivoting of said hold-openlever-latch to said unlocked position, spring means constantly urgingsaid lever-latch toward its unlocked position, said lever-latch beingmanually pivotable to its hold-open position when said door is manuallyswung open contacting said piston rod adjacent said aperturetherethrough whereupon the said leverlatch becomes engaged with saidpiston rod upon release of said door from said manually swung openposition preventing door closing movement of said door check, saidlever-latch then being releasable for movement by said lever-latchspring means to its unlocked position by subsequently manually swingingsaid door slightly toward its open position.

3. In a door check of the type including a cylinder having a head ateach end thereof, a piston reciprocable in said cylinder having a pistonrod extending through one cylinder head, spring means in said cylinderhead constantly urging said piston toward the other cylinder head, thesaid cylinder and piston rod being connectable to the door frame anddoor in a manner to cause said piston to move in one direction andcompress said spring responsive to manually opening the said door, saidspring causing said piston to move in the opposite direction after saiddoor has been opened to close the same, said cylinder having a bleed inthe other of said heads adapted to regulate the rate of spring closingof said door, a manually set and readily releasable door hold-open means0 comprising a hold-open lever-latch disposed diametrically across theend of said one cylinder cap having an aperture therethrough slightlylarger than said piston rod telesooped freely thereover and pivot meansmounting one end of said lever-latch on said one cylinder head adjacentone side said piston rod and extending outwardly from the other sidethereof, stop means limiting the pivoting of said lever-latch to aposition normal to said piston rod when pivoted in one direction aboutsaid pivot means, compression spring means disposed between said onecylinder cap and said lever-latch constantly urging said lever-latch topivot to its said normal position wherein said piston rod mayreciprocate freely therethrough, said lever-latch being manuallypivotable into engagement with said piston rod responsive to manualpressure applied to the outwardly extending end thereof after said dooris manually opened holding said piston rod against axial movement toclose said door upon release of the manual opening of said door, saidleverlatch being released for spring urging by said latch spring meansto its position normal to said piston rod upon subsequently manuallyopening said door slightly further from the open position to which it isheld by said holdopen lever-latch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. IN A DOOR CHECK OF THE TYPE INCLUDING A CYLINDER HAVING A HEAD ATEACH END THEREOF, A PISTON RECIPROCABLE IN SAID CYLINDER HAVING A PISTONROD EXTENDING THROUGH THE CYLINDER HEAD, SPRING MEANS IN SAID CYLINDERCONSTANTLY URGING SAID PISTON TOWARD THE OTHER CYLINDER HEAD, THE SAIDCYLINDER AND PISTON ROD BEING CONNECTABLE TO THE DOOR FRAME AND DOOR INA MANNER TO CAUSE SAID PISTON TO MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION AND COMPRESS SAIDSPRING CAUSING SAID MANUALLY OPENING THE SAID DOOR, SAID SPRING CAUSINGSAID PISTON TO MOVE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AFTER SAID DOOR HAS BEENOPENED TO CLOSE THE SAME, SAID CYLINDER HAVING A BLEED IN THE OTHER OFSAID HEADS ADAPTED TO REGULATE THE RATE OF SPRING CLOSING OF SAID DOOR,A MANUALLY SET AND READILY RELEASABLE DOOR HOLD-OPEN MEANS COMPRISINGHOLD-OPEN LEVER LATCH DISPOSED DIAMETRICALLY ACROSS AND IN SPACEDRELATIONSHIP TO THE END OF SAID CYLINDER HEAD HAVING AN APERTURETHERETHROUGH SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN SAID PISTON ROD AND TELESCOPED FREELYTHEREOVER, PIVOT MEANS MOUNTING ONE END OF SAID LEVER-LATCH ON SAID ONECYLINDER HEAD ADJACENT ONE SIDE SAID PISTON ROD AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLYFROM THE OTHER SIDE THEREOF, STOP MEANS ON SAID LEVER-LATCH LOCATED TOCONTACT SAID CYLINDER HEAD CAUSING SAID LEVER-LATCH TO BE DISPOSEDNORMAL TO SAID PISTON ROD WHEN PIVOTED IN ONE DIRECTION ABOUT SAID PIVOTMEANS, SPRING MEANS CONSTANTLY URGING SAID LEVER-LATCH TO PIVOT TO ISSAID NORMAL POSITION WHEREIN SAID PISTON ROD MAY RECIPROCATE FREELYTHERETHROUGH, SAID LEVER-LATCH PIVOTING INTO CONTACT WITH SAID PISTONROD RESPONSIVE END MANUAL PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE OUTWARDLY EXTENDINGEND THEREOF AFTER SAID DOOR IS MANUALLY OPENED HOLDING SAID PISTON RODAGAINST AXIAL MOVEMENT TO CLOSE SAID DOOR UPON RELEASE OF THE MANUALFORCE EMPLOYED TO OPEN SAID DOOR, SAID LEVER-LATCH BEING RELEASED BYSAID LAST MENTIONED SPRING MEANS TO ITS NORMAL POSITION UPONSUBSEQUENTLY MANUALLY OPENING SAID DOOR SLIGHTLY FROM THE OPEN POSITIONTO WHICH IT IS HELD BY SAID HOLD-OPEN LEVERLATCH.